Refrigerator with improved uv treatment chamber

ABSTRACT

The present invention pertains to a refrigerator ( 1 ) having a chamber where food items are preserved. The present invention more specifically pertains to a refrigerator ( 1 ) having a UV-C treatment compartment whose opening is effected by means of a lock. Said refrigerator ( 1 ) comprises an electronic control unit ( 9 ) for controlling said lock of said cover ( 7 ). A further lock is provided on said door ( 3 ).

The present invention pertains to a refrigerator having an inner volume where food items are preserved.

A structurally essential component involved in a refrigerator is a storage division where food items are preserved at a temperature much higher than that of a freezer compartment but cooler than the regular temperature of the main storage division of said refrigerator. It is known to use ultraviolet light sources to inactivate microorganisms such as bacteria, which grow in food items. This typically helps increasing maximum storage time of food items by suppressing bacterial growth. It is to be noted that even if the food item may still be edible, the presence of bacteria can lead to potential health problems. Use of UV light sources in a refrigerator is effective in retarding food spoilage. In other words, diminishing the amount of organisms in the food item during the pre-spoilage stage should be accomplished.

Primary suppressing mechanism of UV light relies on UV-C light absorption by the DNA molecule of the organisms at 254 nm wavelength. Health risks associated with use of UV light in refrigerators are, however, known and addressed in a plurality of prior art references, such risks including skin or eye irritation, scalds, vision damage and/or loss.

Among others, the US publication U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,853 discloses a system for retarding food spoilage in a refrigerator, which comprises an ultraviolet light turned on for at least a predetermined time only after the refrigerator door is shut. The system as disclosed ensures that UV radiation is interrupted as soon as the refrigerator door is opened. Further, as an additional precaution, UV radiation is not initiated until a light sensor verifies that there is no ambient light in the compartment where UV radiation is to be applied and that the compartment door is closed. The present invention, on the other hand, provides a control mechanism according to which the compartment where UV radiation is applied is physically locked and maintained so until a set of actions are performed by a user.

Another prior art document, which merely relies on the open or closed state of the compartment door for activating or deactivating UV radiation is U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,564. As stated earlier, the present invention provides a more advanced and reliable control scheme where users are prevented from being subjected to harmful UV rays.

Primary object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with a UV treatment compartment involving improved security measures for eliminating health risks associated with UV radiation.

The present invention discloses a refrigerator with a separate chamber for preserving food items. Said inner compartment has a UV light source. Said chamber's cover as well as the door of the refrigerator are automatically lockable to prevent access while said UV lamp is operational. Control of said locks is undertaken by an electronic control unit.

Functions of said electronic control unit and therefore of the refrigerator can be set by using control panels. Both said cover and said door comprises control panels allowing user intervention. Further, said panels serve to the purpose of displaying information in regards to operation modes of the refrigerator.

Said electronic control unit activates and energizes said UV light source in the event a set of conditions are met. Users may activate said UV light source by using said chamber's control panel. Upon this, said electronic control unit automatically locks said cover. If in return, a given user closes the door of the refrigerator too, the electronic control unit then actuates said door lock. Only upon this, said UV light source is energized, i.e. when the cover and the door are locked.

If in the meanwhile a given user needs to stop hygiene mode before it is terminated, it can be done on the main control panel. On the other hand, hygiene mode cannot be cancelled on the inner control panel, i.e. while said door is still open and said inner control panel is still reachable. Although said UV light source is not yet energized at this moment, users are required to close the door first due to security criteria according to the invention. Said inner control panel is inactive as from selection of hygiene mode on said inner control panel. Hygiene mode is cancelled if the door is not closed in a predefined period. Current operation mode of said UV light source is indicated on the main control panel.

A sensor (12) is present in the chamber and said electronic control unit verifies current operational status of said UV light source also with the help of said sensor as a second source of information, which is independent of the information processed between said electronic control unit that energizes said UV light source and said control panels.

Said cover opens horizontally, i.e. parallel to the ground. It is therefore less likely to be subject to direct UV light while opening the cover. Said cover being made out of a transparent UV-resistant polymeric material, it is therefore self-indicative of the operational state of the UV light source.

Accompanying drawing is given solely for the purpose of exemplifying a refrigerator with a UV treatment compartment whose advantages over prior art were outlined above and will be explained in brief hereinafter. The drawing is not meant to delimit the scope of protection as identified in the claims nor should it be referred to alone in an effort to interpret the scope identified in said claims without recourse to the technical disclosure in the description of the present invention.

FIG. 1 demonstrates a schematic view of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

-   1. Refrigerator -   2. Compartment -   3. Door -   4. First locking means -   5. Chamber -   6. UV light source -   7. Cover -   8. Second locking means -   9. Electronic control unit -   10. Main control panel -   11. Inner control panel -   12. Sensor -   13. Sealing member

The present invention proposes a refrigerator (1) comprising a compartment (2), a door (3) for accessing the compartment (2) in which a chamber (5) for preserving food items is disposed. Said chamber (5) has a UV light source (6) for preventing microorganism growth in food items preserved within said chamber (5). Said chamber (5) further has a cover (7) for effecting physical isolation of said chamber (5) volume from said inner volume of the refrigerator (1). Therefore by closing said cover (7), an activated UV light source (6) will only be efficient within the chamber (5) volume and not in the remaining volume of the refrigerator (1).

According to the present invention, said cover (7) of said chamber (5) comprises a second locking means (8) for effecting closing of said cover (7) in a locked manner. This provides that said cover (7) being closed and locked will remain so as long as said second locking means (8) of said cover (7) is not unlocked, therefore providing an improved security control over said cover (7), said chamber (5) incorporating a UV light source (6) subjection to which may lead to health problems.

Further, said door (3) of said refrigerator (1) also comprises a first locking means (4) for effecting closing of said door (3) in a locked manner. Therefore, when said UV light source (6) of said chamber (5) is activated and both locks (4 and 8) are actuated as explained below, a user in an effort to reach a food item in said chamber (5) will need to subsequently unlock said first locking means (4) and said second locking means (8), which helps reducing risks associated with subjection to UV light.

Said refrigerator (1) comprises an electronic control unit (9) for controlling said second locking means (8) of said cover (7) and said first locking means (4) of said door (3). In this manner, a sequence of actions is performed to ensure secure operation of the system. While said door (3) comprises a main control panel (10) in communication with said electronic control unit (9) for executing different operation modes of said refrigerator (1), said cover (7) comprises an inner control panel (11) also in communication with said electronic control unit (9) and also for executing different operation modes of sad refrigerator (1). Therefore a set of different parameters are settable on two separate control panels (10 and 11); namely, while said UV light source (6) is activatable only by means of said inner control panel (11), it is deactivatable only by means of said main control panel (10). Due to this arrangement, it is provided that a user activating said UV light source (6) will certainly need to close the door (3) of the refrigerator (1) for deactivating said UV light source (6).

The fact that said UV light source (6) is not activatable on the main control panel (10) ensures that the given user, after activating said UV light source (6), still has access to the inner volume of the refrigerator (1) with the exception of said chamber (5) before closing the door (3), as closing of the latter will first initiate actuation of said first locking means (4) and then energization of said UV light source (6), as explained below.

Said chamber (5) comprises a sensor (12) in communication with said electronic control unit (9). Said electronic control unit (9) therefore verifies validity of the information in regards to the operation status of said UV light source (6) as displayed on said main control panel (10). In other words, the case may occur that said main control panel (10) displays incorrect information in regards to the operation status of said UV light source (6) while said sensor (12) is still operational. To be more specific, due to a malfunction, active mode of said UV light source (6) may be manually disabled on the main control panel (10) and be indicated as such thereon while said UV light source (6) is still active.

Activation of said UV light source (6) by the given user on said inner control panel (11) automatically triggers actuation of said second locking means (8). Although said UV light source (6) is activatable on said inner control panel (11), it is not yet energized and therefore not operational until the door (3) of the refrigerator (1) is closed by the user and the first locking means (4) is actuated by said electronic control unit (9). Said inner control panel (11) becomes inactive after activation of said UV light source (6) in the manner that it remains operational only for displaying information.

Visual and audible warnings are activatable on said inner control panel (11) and/or main control panel (10), such warnings reflecting different operation modes of said refrigerator (1). To this end, a given user will be informed of the current status of the UV light source (6) and will take desired steps accordingly.

Distinct visual and audible warnings may also be emitted after activation of said UV light source (6), such warnings, for instance, reflecting an open state of said door (3). This applies to the case where said UV light source (6) is activated by the user on the inner control panel (11) upon which said cover (7) is automatically locked but the user then did not close the door (3) of the refrigerator (1) for a prolonged duration. In this case, activation of said UV light source (6) is automatically cancelled as one of the required criteria is not met.

According to the present invention, activation of said UV light source (6) is programmable to a particular time on said inner control panel (11), operational conditions and security criteria before and during operation time remaining unchanged.

Said cover (7) according to the present invention is operable around an axis parallel to the base of said refrigerator (1). This is a further security measure which ensures that direct eye contact with said UV light source (6) is avoided since with an opening axis in horizontal direction, i.e. in parallel with the ground, will not reveal said UV light source (6) in a direct and immediate manner.

Said UV light source (6) of the invention is a UV-C lamp. Further, said cover (7) being made out of a transparent and non UV permeable, UV-resistant polymeric material ensures that a given user can notice operational state of said UV light source (6) by viewing the cover (7) itself.

Said chamber (5) comprises an opaque sealing member (13) encircling said cover (7) is used to support and seal said cover (7). Said sealing member (13) is designed in the form of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), a material having a high UV resistance. As an additional precaution, UV-sensitive silicon carbide photodiodes may be provided in between said cover (7) and said sealing member (13) whereby efficiency of the sealing member (13) can regularly be monitored. It is therefore possible to inform users in case leakage is observed. 

1. A refrigerator (1) comprising a compartment (2), a door (3) for accessing the compartment (2) in which a chamber (5) for preserving food items is disposed wherein said chamber (5) has a UV light source (6) for preventing microorganism growth in food items preserved within said chamber (5) and a cover (7) for effecting physical isolation of said chamber (5) from inner volume of the compartment (2) characterized in that; said cover (7) of said chamber (5) comprises a second locking means (8) for effecting closing of said cover (7) in a locked manner, said door (3) comprises a first locking means (4) for effecting closing of said door (3) in a locked manner, an electronic control unit (9) for controlling said first locking means (4) and said second locking means (8).
 2. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 1 wherein said door (3) comprises a main control panel (10) in communication with said electronic control unit (9) and said cover (7) comprises an inner control panel (11) in communication with said electronic control unit (9), for executing different operation modes.
 3. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2 wherein said UV light source (6) is activatable on said inner control panel (11).
 4. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein activation of said UV light source (6) is effectable after locking of said cover (7) by said electronic control unit (9).
 5. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein said inner control panel (11) is inactive upon activation of said UV light source (6).
 6. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein activation of said UV light source (6) is effectable upon subsequent closing and automatic locking of said door (3).
 7. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein said UV light source (6) is deactivatable on said main control panel (10).
 8. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein information in regards to operation status of said UV light source (6) is displayable on said main control panel (10).
 9. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein activation of said UV light source (6) is programmable to a particular time on said inner control panel (11).
 10. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cover (7) is made out of a transparent, UV-resistant and non UV permeable polymeric material.
 11. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 10 wherein said cover (7) is encircled by an opaque sealing member (13) in the form of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM).
 12. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 10, wherein UV-sensitive silicon carbide photodiodes are provided in between said cover (7) and said sealing member (13).
 13. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 1, wherein visual and audible warnings are activated to inform the user about the current status of the UV light source (6), on said inner control panel (11) and/or main control panel (10).
 14. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cover (7) is made out of a transparent, UV-resistant and non UV permeable polymeric material.
 15. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 2, wherein visual and audible warnings are activated to inform the user about the current status of the UV light source (6), on said inner control panel (11) and/or main control panel (10).
 16. A refrigerator (1) as set forth in claim 3, wherein activation of said UV light source (6) is effectable after locking of said cover (7) by said electronic control unit (9) and wherein said inner control panel (11) is inactive upon activation of said UV light source (6) and wherein activation of said UV light source (6) is effectable upon subsequent closing and automatic locking of said door (3) and wherein said UV light source (6) is deactivatable on said main control panel (10) and wherein information in regards to operation status of said UV light source (6) is displayable on said main control panel (10) and wherein activation of said UV light source (6) is programmable to a particular time on said inner control panel (11) and wherein said cover (7) is made out of a transparent, UV-resistant and non UV permeable polymeric material and wherein said cover (7) is encircled by an opaque sealing member (13) in the form of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and wherein UV-sensitive silicon carbide photodiodes are provided in between said cover (7) and said sealing member (13) and wherein visual and audible warnings are activated to inform the user about the current status of the UV light source (6), on said inner control panel (11) and/or main control panel (10). 